2015-07-29

Grand Duchy 61-M

Marcel Follows a Stranger

Soladian 17th Yarthmont

Marcel follows the man out of the establishment. The place is small and not so crowded, so he hope to be able to look innocuous as he wanders without revealing his target. However, it is clear that he is onto something as he rushes too quite tightly on the heels of the stranger.

Upon exiting the rear door of the drinking establishment, Marcel nearly runs over the man he was following, who has stopped near a woodpile to relieve himself. “Hey, watch yourself, stranger,” the man calls out. He finishes up his business quickly and turns on Marcel harshly, then stops as he sizes him up. “Um, no worries. Accidents happen.” He quickly turns and heads away along the mill pond toward the center of the village. He does not look to see if Marcel follows or not.

Marcel gets the odd feeling that he may have been overly suspicious. He resumes his shadowing, acting more casually, or as if he had a second thought and decided to go in the same direction until he finds someone looking like a local. He is interested to see whether the man is well known in town, or a stranger.

Marcel follows the stranger out from behind the tavern and out onto the main road of the town. The man turns north around the corner of the building and heads for what has been pointed out as Pyotrova’s Store, the local shopping outlet. Trying not to be too conspicuous, Marcel swings by the village fountain where several other folk are filling buckets. He asks one man, a Traladaran filling several buckets and loading them on a rickety hand cart, if he knows the man who just entered the store.

The local, a vegetable farmer who identifies himself as Toris, says he has seen the guy around for a couple of days, but does not know who he is.

Marcel cracks his knuckles and gives a grateful nod to the farmer. As he walks away, he mutters under his breath: "we just got ourselves a yellow goblin".

Marcel spends a while looking around for Griffin, knowing that Draven will no doubt be staying at his church up on the hill. He considers the options for lodging that evening, and though he would much prefer the plush accommodations of a private room at the Boar’s Head Inn, his current treasury sends him to the common room at the Farmer’s Rest. He scarfs down a meal of stew and hard bread with some sour wine and finds a soft spot in the hay in the corner of the room to rest for the night.

Lunadain 18th of Yarthmont

The next morning, Marcel wakes and eats a quick breakfast then heads back out to find Griffin and Draven to see what they were able to find while in this little mountain town. He is eager to tell them about the man he followed and suspects might be one of the Iron Ring spies watching out for them. First things first, though, he gathers his gear and heads toward the village fountain to get cleaned up for this fair and glorious day.

The Crest of Verge

That afternoon, Marcel makes his way back to the Grey Company’s camp just outside of Verge to reconnect with his companions and find out what the others learned. Remar announces that he had purchased a horse and some more food stores off a passing farmer earlier that day to replace one of the missing mounts. Griffin and Ree return to camp later that evening with the news that they have found a guide to lead them into the Black Peaks. When Remar tells Griffin how much he spent on the horse and food, he is upset to find out that the Company treasury is not able to cover it and says he should be the first one paid back whenever new funds are gained.

As he walks away from the central fountain, he is approached by what looks like a guard or soldier. He bears a crest of yellow and red with a purple duck on it. These colors are prominently visible around the town and a banner bearing this symbol hands from the large manor house at the north end of town. It must be the sign of the Lord of the estate and this must be one of his men.

The approaching soldier is young, probably a year or two Marcel’s junior, though he walks with a confident gait. His gear (chain vest and hood over cloth, small shield and spear) all seem to be in excellent condition. He smiles and nods to Marcel. “Hello stranger. How do you fare this fine day. What brings you to Verge?”

Marcel chats with the guard for a moment then realizes that he may be giving away a little too much information so he breaks the conversation off and heads back out of town to the camp to wait for his other friends.

Notes

This week's continuing story is actually three separate stories, one told from each of the PC's points of view. Upon arriving in Verge, the three characters went their separate ways and each had a bit of an adventure of their own. Normally in the continuing story, I direct a lot of the action and look for reactions from the players. This time I did a little different and asked for the players to lead the action, with input from me as the story unfolded. It was interesting and I still had quite a bit of say in the direction, but it was fun to see where the players took their characters!This is the first of 3 posts, the other 2 will follow later today and tomorrow. Thanks for reading!

Cast of Characters:

Garrett "Griffin" Constantine, a Thyatian rogue of a gambler from Penhaligon rolled by +Arne JamtgaardMarcel Maas, a homely but sincere wielder of spears aspiring to cooking greatness commanded by +Christian BlouinDraven Rickart, a Thyatian Acolyte of the Church of Karameikos ministered by +Jason Packerand +Jason Woollard as The DM